The Millennial Assembly, a grand meeting of all high-ranking members of Imperial Society.

Held once every thousand Standard Imperial Years, or once every million for us Humans, it is the most crucial of routine political gatherings within Imperial borders. It is at this time when the state of the entire Empire is exhaustively assessed by the council of leaders, at which point they shall formulate actions with which the Empire and it's subjects shall instill upon their borders, and equally, very far beyond it.

As the personalities make their way to the Obsidian Palace, the Imperial capital and likewise perpetual venue for the event, they come across the massive security force with which the event is guarded. The escorts of the officials themselves aren't just a bunch of shoddily built ruffians either, sometimes sporting their own contingent of major ships, usually lead by a luminary assault carrier.

Needless to say, the entire event sported nothing short of a massive military build-up, the size of which frequently rivaled the standing armies of other equally well off powers in their little slice of the known universe. And all of this, with a large helping of strategic and tactical geniuses to boot, as the elite of the elite are almost exclusively formed by the Empire's most decorated circle of generals.

No one dared encroaching upon mere parsecs of the Capital's perimeter. Which just meant everything was according to what security had planned for the event.

And now that all was set, the meeting proper was about to begin...

Deep inside the Obsidian Palace's dimly lit corridors, the last wave of arrivals frantically made their way to the Room of Hollow, continuously chatting along the way.

When everyone was finally inside the hall and all "Their" names accounted for, the meeting finally started and the second of the eldest stood up from his place and, opening a holographic map in the center of the room, slowly began to speak...

"To formally open this meeting, I would like to announce that the Crystalline Coalition has suffered extensive damage on their eastern defensive line. Our spies report that the Zarabas Monarchy and a couple of other lesser nations are planning on transferring their southern forces to aid their quickly failing eastern front.

By the time these forces reach their intended destination, our 255th and 976th corps, along with the 345th, 284th and 322nd Terran-Radian corps and 681st and 115th Terran-Ixian corps will be at the ready for an all out assault on their southern front, crippling their infrastructure and sending their major centers crashing down into oblivion.

It is only a matter of time before half of the entire Crystalline Coalition's territory falls into our grasp! And with that, the remaining Coalition territories will be completely surrounded.

Victory is ours!"

After hearing this, another stood up. He was quite smaller than the previous one, but still quite tall compared to the others. "Elder Gurukherheimer. What about those Versavol zealots? You know, those crazy nutjobs that want to turn everything into rose, lavende-... err what ever that color was? Any big news about tho-"

However, he was interrupted mid-sentence as another one, the smallest in the room, also stood up and began to talk in a cranky manner. "Pink, Versenheimer! Pink! And remember it!" He added, "As for the Versavol, have our spies recovered any intel on why their expansion seems to resemble a very thin circle?"

He then stared at the opening speaker with a cold dark look as if to intimidate. But the opening speaker was unfazed and answered the question in quite a calm manner. "I'm glad you asked, Zantetsunheimer. As for the Versavol, our spies have found out that even the highest Versavol Emperors do not have a single clue as to why this is. As of now, we haven't been able to get much from the Versavols' High Emperor due to the Purist Order of Pink Guards always following after him, blocking our attempts at direct extraction of information, primarily because we're just not pink enough for them, apparently."

A new one stood up and began to speak, though in a rather monotonous manner. "We cannot risk destroying our temporary relations with them. We are still busy with the Coalition at one hand and the Knights of Sporda at the other. Not to mention the tensions brewing inside the black market, with the Theram-Ixians, our main competitor in the defense industry, spreading false advertisement to the general audience and all."

Someone on the far side of the most recent speaker stood up in response. This one was quite muscular compared to the others, even though he was noticeably below average in size. "Kazukenheimer, you've got a point there. Though that doesn't mean I completely agree with you." Looking at the others, he speaks again. "Now, while we're on the topic of dealing with foreign weaklings, why don't we discuss the possibilities of extending our cultural assimilation research program? I'm su-"

"Lame.", said one from a seat not far away. "Vanretzerheimer, think before you speak. The greatest of our mind control technology already lies in the Terra-"

Zantetsunheimer was growing more and more irritated by the slowly derailing discussion. "No you! It does not work that way! Those lied in that other project of ours! The one that got discontinued, remember clearly now?! Now, everyone back on topic before I tear you people new holes on yo-"

"Silence!" Gurukherheimer finally had enough of the chaos. "You can act disorganized elsewhere. Do you truly wish to wake up the One Who's Rank Is So High That Even His Rank Cannot Be Named Except By Himself?"

As the table elders finally settled down, a large and eerie voice can be heard high above the assembly. The words became louder and louder until it can finally be heard by the ones below. "Ahem!"

The group of elders heard it and they all bowed down to the figure above. A large, glowing, almost featureless sphere with only two large, glowing eyes visible from a distance.

"Forgive our insolence.", said Gurukherheimer, while bending over more than before.

"You have no need to, Gurukherheimer.", said the floating figure. "I was listening. Do continue as before. Without the trivialities."

"With utmost obedience!" Gurukherheimer then looks at the others, urging them to do the same.

Meanwhile, on board a certain Terran-Ixian starship in Ariadnian space...

"Hey you! Yeah you!", a voice yelled across the walkway. It was the chief engineer of reactor group 4732. "You're Morinatsu, aren't you?"

"Y-y-yes?", a small yet strongly built Terratn-Ixian enginer said nervously.